Wind power stays aloft in renewable energy race (cheaper than new coal plants)

Michigan electricity providers are making good progress toward meeting the state’s 2015 renewable-energy mandate, mainly because of a sharp drop in wind-power generation costs, a recent state Public Service Commission report found.

The commission also says the cost of renewables is lower than the projected cost of producing electricity from a new coal-fired plant.

Spokesmen for DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, the state’s two largest electric utilities, wouldn’t comment on whether the utilities agreed with the commission’s cost comparisons.

“Wind is the cheapest resource to bring large amounts of renewable energy online,” said Julie Baldwin, manager of the commission’s renewable energy section. “It’s hard for other sources to be competitive.”